Michelin: How did this tyre company start rating restaurants?
You may be familiar with Michelin star ratings for chefs and restaurants! But have you ever wondered if it bears any connection with the French tyre company Michelin? Well, it totally does! Michelin is the world’s second-largest tyre company. Michelin Tire Company was started by the Michelin brothers, André and Édouard Michelin in the year 1888. André Michelin was an engineer by profession born in the year 1853 in France. Édouard Michelin was a landscape painter born in 1859. The brothers may have died but their legacy continues till date. Michelin produces tyres for the Bugatti Veyron, the world’s fastest automobile! Wait, they also make tyres for space shuttles and for ordinary people like us. But how did the founders of this tyre company enter the restaurant rating business? Well, let’s find out!
Rise of the Michelin brothers
The Michelin brothers took control of their failing family business of manufacturing farm equipment. In the late 1800s, when the first automobiles were being produced, they expanded their business by offering vulcanised rubber tyres. This is how the Michelin tyre company was started in 1888. Eventually, they discovered a method that eliminated the need for glue to attach the tyre to the wheel rim. Thus, the first removable rubber tyre was created by Michelin in 1889. They also created the first replaceable rim and tyre to handle speeds greater than 100 km/h! Following this, they expanded into rail transport in 1929. Thus, in 1931, the first Micheline engines equipped with rubber tyres travelled down the railway tracks.
The boom of Michelin guide
In the late 1800s, the automobile industry was still developing. About a century later, Michelin came up with the concept of developing a trip guide to inspire more people to take their cars for a road trip! This is how the Michelin business started publishing trip guides. If you see, the guide concept was actually a clever strategy to promote longer car trips, which resulted in increased tyre sales. Soon after, they created road maps as well. Google came into existence 100 years later in 1998! So, such guides were literally a boon for travellers. These books and maps attracted travellers who wished to explore various destinations. And such travels, of course, involved trips to attractive restaurants and stays at hotels. Eventually, Michelin hired full-time ‘food inspectors’ and ‘food critics’ to evaluate restaurants and provide anonymous feedback on the fare and customer service. In this way, Michelin created a restaurant guide that would only include the finest restaurants! And as we all know, the company still follows this practice.
Restaurant rating system begins!
In 1926, Michelin began publishing more detailed travel guides emphasizing excellent food. They began rating these restaurants and granting them Michelin Stars! The top restaurants received a single Michelin star for the next 5 years. However, in 1931, they came up with three categories of ratings: three stars meant extraordinary food, two stars meant high-quality food and one star meant decent food.
Currently, Michelin has guides for 34 locations across Europe, Asia and America. Its famous Michelin-star rating system creates fear as well as joy among restaurant owners worldwide. A ‘Michelin Star’ is the dream of every aspiring chef! Anyone who receives a Michelin Star for the first time can expect an overnight boost in sales. Similarly, losing a Michelin Star may devastate the business of both chefs and restaurant owners. It feels like your gold medal is taken straight off your neck!
Gordon Ramsay, a famous TV chef and recipient of Michelin Stars, once cried after his New York-based restaurant, The London, lost two Michelin Stars in 2013. What Michelin has done for the restaurant industry over the last century is unmatched.